Yellow Dot program brings help to motorists in trouble

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT), Sybil Blau NEWS-TIMES CORRESPONDENT

Published
1:00 am EDT, Thursday, July 8, 2004

It's a simple idea - a three-inch yellow dot - but it can be a life saver.

In an emergency, the dot, on the driver's side of the car's rear window, alerts police or fire responders that information about the driver is located in car's glove compartment.
"It's a way to quickly find out information about a victim if they are unconscious or too dazed to rationally respond," said
Newtown Senior Center
Director
Marilyn Place
.
The program will be introduced to the community from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Newtown Senior Center, 14 Riverside Road in Sandy Hook.
A light lunch will be served. State and local officials will speak briefly about the project. Yellow Dot program folders will be distributed and headshots snapped on a camera bought with funds donated by the Newtown Rotary.
Recipients get an information card, a photo and a yellow dot that can be affixed to a vehicle window.
The card is to be filled out in pencil and updated as needed. After completion, the card and photo are put into the glove compartment.
The program was created in Shelton in 2002 to help senior citizens communicate during an automobile accident, said Newtown Police Officer

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, who was instrumental in bringing the program not only to the town, but the state.
In addition to current medical date, the photo and contact numbers, the card has room for such personal information as whether there is a pet at home that needs to be fed, said Newtown Senior Center member
Lois Pratt
, 71.
"The program is good for people of all ages, not just seniors," Pratt said. "Parents can fill out the form for their children so that such information is in the car, too."
The Yellow Dot Program is an initiative of Triad, another national program introduced to the Newtown community last year.
Triad is a community policing initiative between senior citizens, law enforcement and service providers to increase safety through education and crime prevention.

For more information about the Yellow Dot program, call Marilyn Place at (203) 270-4310.